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Synopsis
The book Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals written by Heidi Grant Halvorson creates the step by step instructions of how to reach the aims. The work is not the container of simple clichés and well-known instructions, but a specific set of advices of how to reach personal goals. The entire work is following a logical structure of indentifying the goals, preparing to achieve them through the evaluation and investigation, and accrual attainment of the goals. According to the author, it is essential to distinguish between true goals and those imposed by the environment, as the orientation on the aims of the society will not help individual to achieve them. Also, Halvorson claims that there are people in the environment that use to create barriers for a person, which has to be addressed through focusing on the inner motivation.
The book provides an insight into the need to develop a self-assessment instrument that will help individual to control personal impulses, weaknesses, and the desire to give up. Also, the author’s aim was to provide a universal guidance in goal achievement whether it is the development of effective relationship, career goals, or personal development. The author uses inspirational tone when emphasizing the importance to be precise in goal-attainment, follow a specific path, and do not be afraid of success, which is considered one of the barriers in this process. According to the author, people fear the success because they are convinced they will not have reasons to strive any more. The book claims that it is a psychological issue that can be resolved through the effort. One of the main points of the book is that all people without exclusion may be successful goal-achievers and the methods for success are more or less similar in all cases. Halvorson emphasizes that despite the socio-economic status or personal features individual can learn how to succeed in life by following particular rules.
Critique
One of the biggest advantages of the book is the availability of vivid and real examples how people achieve success and how they fail to do that. For instance, Halvorson uses as the example of overweight people who struggle to lose weight even if there are a lot of measures and tools of how to do that (Halvorson, 2010). The same issue is with the smokers, according to the author. Despite the fact that there is tons of evidence proving the detrimental effect of nicotine and the desire of smokers to give up their habit, people who actually reach this goal are in minority. The main reason for the failure, as the book states, is the misconception about the willpower as something innate rather than learned. There is a widely-accepted preconceived notion that strong/weak willpower is granted by the genes. According to Halvorson, it is not correct, as it is a skill that can be learned through the experience, special training, or self-motivation.
Also, the author emphasizes the importance of self-control and the distinction between knowledge about goal-achievement and actual actions. Studies also emphasize that the self-evaluation and management will help to attain goals faster through the effective motivation, visualization of the aims, and the ability to allocate resources (Hanchon, 2011). The author supports this position implying that those who use to attain the goals, usually set precise timing and manage the resources for this task. Therefore, this skill can be learned by everyone through the increased awareness and motivation.
While a lot of advices provided by the author are quite practical, well-managed, and precise, where the real-life examples are important bonus; the majority of the cases described in the book relate to weight loss, which is quite limiting if the book was needed to business success. It has to be noted that for the U.S. the topic of healthy lifestyle is particularly important due to the negative tendencies in the eating habits and the rate of diseases related to obesity. At the same time, the work was not advertised as the instructions for the weight loss or health improvements, which can be a flaw for those who cannot relate to this topic. At the same time, the book ties the inability to improve health due to the mistakes in self-organization and difficulty in attainment of, for example, career goals. It may sound quite controversial, but according to Halvorson (2010), if a person’s life is out of balance, it is impossible to reach success in either personal life or professional one.
The main advice provided by the book is to set difficult and multifaceted goals, despite the field. At the same time, these aims have to be achievable with the necessity to find necessary resources for the success. The author introduces several peer-reviewed studies that illustrate her position towards this topic by emphasizing that people will always achieve what they are asked for, and rarely attain more than that. It is explained by the author as the easier way to attain aims, while the necessity to be more creative and to overachieve is perceived as something more complicated, less desired, and inessential. The author insisted that the way of thinking is important as well. So, if a person prefers abstract thinking, he or she will be more motivated, but could fail to identify concrete resources and methods to achieve the aim. Oppositely, if people have more precise thinking orienting on the actions, they will be more able to allocate resources than to motivate themselves. Thus, according to the author, people have to find balance between these two ways of thinking.
At the same time, Halvorson (2010) provides a weak example to support the claims about the types of thinking. The author included a research conducted among people specifically divided between those who have abstract and concrete thinking type. Each of the group had to drink certain amount of coffee and describe the process later on. According to the book, the results showed that the abstract thinkers described their activity as the “necessity to improve their drinking skills”, while the other group was more concentrated on the actions, like taking a sip or drinking coffee from a specific mug (Halvorson, 2010, p. 25). The main issue here is that the task did not require accomplishing a complicated task, as all people are familiar with drinking a coffee. Otherwise, the author had to find an example where the participants were proposed to complete a difficult task and their type of thinking would determine who of them can attain the goals more successfully.
Also, the book evaluates people’s image of intelligence and intellect. Here, the author becomes less precise by claiming that the intellectual potential does not always predict the success of a person. At the same time, Halvorson (2010) claims that there is no concise information on IQ in the academic studies. However, a lot of modern studies claim that IQ largely depends on the genetic legacy, rather than roots in the education (Piffer, 2013). In this part, the author mixes intelligence with the beliefs claiming that the ability to believe in success may overvalue the availability of sharp intellect. This can confuse the reader and people who want to achieve the goals through the intellectual activities. While the book is written in the motivational form, the facts as well as the theoretical basis have to be presented correctly by taking into account the counterarguments as well.
The work emphasizes that the goals tend to change throughout the time, which is normal for a person. For example, in 18 individual starts thinking about the future by choosing an activity, in 30 a person could have a large experience and will be able to start up a business or to be promoted. However, according to the author, the methods people choose and their motivation do not change throughout this period time, which can be both pro and con. Accoridng to the results of the research, “an individual who possesses a particular motivational pattern in childhood will exhibit a similar pattern as a young adult, as a middle-age adult, and as an older adult” (Steinberg, Grieve, & Glass, 2001, p. 299). Halvorson (2010) claims that the methods and motivation have to be more versatile in order to attain goals in all fields, but if a person stays very motivated throughout the lifespan, it produces positive results as well.
The book tries to be more practical than theoretical for a book. While the entire conversation may feel abstract and unrelated to, for example, how to become a high-quality specialist in accounting; it is possible to extract certain advices for personal use. For example, the need to be resourceful can be interpreted as the possibility to find good suppliers for a start up or to find a diet suitable for a particular person. The need to be motivated can be translated into the possibility to visualize the results and to appreciate personal effort. There are multiple examples why this book is useful for all people, including the readability and the easiness of the composition as well as the choice of reasoning. Moreover, it is quite simple for all people and it is possible to recommend it to anyone, even for those who do not feel the need reading motivational books. This work enriches the knowledge in social and psychological studies and conveys a clear image of the goal achievement.
Overall, it is impossible to claim that the author contributed to the psychological or social research, as no original studies were conducted. However, the book managed to synthesize the information presented in a large domain of research, which will benefit the random readers not related to the field of psychology or sociology. The main aim of this book is to motivate, not overwhelm the readers with the scientific terms and details on methodology. Therefore, while this book is effective for the readers as the source of valuable information providing the data on the psychological specificity of behavior, skills, and leadership; its value for the modern scientific community is secondary. The author did not present anything new into the field, as there are a lot of motivational books in the market. Also, the work does not try to become innovative in a particular area. It simply transfers the information to the readers, who do not have time to surf through the tons of information in psychology and sociology. It is possible to recommend it to all adults, who are struggling to find the willpower or abilities to attain goals.
References
Halvorson, H. G. (2010). Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals. New York, NY: Hudson Street Press.
Hanchon, T. A. (2011). Examining Perfectionism through the Lens of Achievement Goal Theory. North American Journal of Psychology, 13(3), 25-31.
Piffer, D. (2013). Factor Analysis of Population Allele Frequencies as a Simple, Novel Method of Detecting Signals of Recent Polygenic Selection: The Example of Educational Attainment and IQ. Mankind Quarterly, 54(2), 168-177.
Steinberg, G., Grieve, F. G., & Glass, B. (2001). Achievement Goals across the Lifespan. Journal of Sport Behavior, 24(3), 11-26.
